5wo very hard to wind in the night, any advice?

[BellaBearisWideAwake]

My 5wo DS2 is doing really well (and anything is good after DS1's reflux/sleep nightmare, so I am feeling positive). He usually has his longest sleep f the day from about nine/ten in the evening. This has been anything from 2 hours to four and a half (!) which is a minor miracle after DS1, who was sleeping max 45mins at this stage. That sleep is the only one in the bedside cot, and then after that he goes for 45min-90min stretches, and sleeping next to me or sometimes on me.

One of the reasons I think he isn't sleeping so well for the second part of the night is wind. He is very windy, I think, but it is very very hard to get any burps up once he is asleep (and he seems to always fall asleep on the breast at night). So when we lie down with him he squirms a lot. Last night, apart from his 'long' sleep which was 2 hours, I hardly slept.

Any advice? I can survive the way it is, and presumably he will get better naturally and 5 weeks may be a bad time for wind, I don't know. But if I could get a little more sleep I might be nicer to everyone else, including 3yo DS1.

gentle bump?

Hi, I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will come along with better advice but didn't want to leave you unanswered. It is so tiring having a new baby with toddler (been there and bought the T-shirt). Is there anyway you can all go to bed together today and get some rest time. Being knackered makes everything more difficult.

Re night-time sleeping, so you can get some rest: If he'll go in his cot, you could try lifting the top end of the cot up (you can get special blocks to do this) or put a pillow under the mattress, so that he is sleeping more upright position to help the wind come up naturally. My daughter had colic and this seemed to help. Swaddling might also help. Hope you get some rest.

thank you. ive been napping on days wehn todller is at childminder.

He just wiggles the whole time he is asleep. cuddled next to me I can shush him and he doesn't wake but I don't sleep. If he was in his cot I think he would either a) wake up or b) still make the noise and I wouldn't sleep.

obvioulsy want to sort this out for him, but I think I am meeting his needs quite well - it's my sleep that is the problem!!!

Have you tried infacol? It's supposed to group the trapped wind into bigger bubbles and so makes it easier to wind. It's really worked miracles for my DD.

I haven't. Does it need sterilising between uses? (trying to work out if I have to get out of bed ...)

Oh and I burp my daughter asleep. I just held her up on my lap in bed, supporting her chest, patting her back. She seems to be able to bring up wind in her sleep!

You are obviously a lovely mummy and he sounds like he's doing fine. I'm afraid I'm a mean mummy and put both my babies to sleep in their own rooms after a few days. Mainly because my DH isn't that keen on co-sleeping but if I was feeling really tired and needed to co-sleep, he would decamp elsewhere for a couple of nights, so we could luxuriate together in the double bed. I'm looking forward to doing it all again in Aug. Take care.

Bella I don't sterilize the infacol. Just put a droplet of it in her mouth before each feed.

Yes, the problem burping him asleep seems to be his, not mine, iyswim. His body doesn't seem to allow it!

OK, might give that a go. Could I use it just at night?

MM - if he was in his own room, then I would have to go up and down a flight of stairs four times (+) a night! I'm far far too lazy for that

I really appreciate the replies.

Good point, stay put . No wondered you're tired. I'm not sure I'd ever get the washing put away let alone get up in the night.

Are you me? We are having very similar issues with 3 week old DS2 (and my wakeful, refluxy DS1 sounds just like yours too!). I have been out to buy infacol this morning. I've only given it to DS2 once so far (before a feed he had about an hour ago) but it's looking promising - he had some enormous burps after that feed, then settled himself in his basket (as opposed to loads of squirming, repeated attempts to burp, sleeping fitfully in a cuddle etc). Definitely worth a try.

Tried the infacol once last night and then had such a dreadful night I forgot the other feeds. So so tired.

Good luck!

Poor you. My dd was the same used to take up to an hour to get a burp from her, not nice in the middle of the night! Try lying him back for a minute and then sit him straight up with your hand under his chin & the other holding his back as straight as possible. Sometimes it helps to lean them forward with their back straightened again with your hand under his chin to support. Its all a matter of physics, if there's air trapped in there it has to come out! The other thing I use is lying them down and peddaling their legs this helps wind at the other end. Don't forget that by about 3 mths they start to burp on their own so only a few weeks to go. Good luck

Thank you

Sounds like my DS! He's now 9w and only a little less squirmy and windy at night. He'll squirm to the point where I'm convinced he's waking, and I'll be properly awake, and then he'll be quiet. Once I resettle in bed, he'll start squirming again! We have had multiple issues though- thrush, reflux, and food intolerances. He falls asleep after feeds as well, and if he doesn't burp in the usual positions after 10-15 minutes, I put him face down with his bottom sticking up, and then pick him up to burp when he starts squirming. This usually works!

You sound exactly like me with ds2 at the same age. Infacol did work for us, when I wasn't too tired to remember to give it to him. I used to find that lying him down for a few minutes then lifting him when he started to squirm sometimes did the trick.

Oh, we had similar with DD. She just refused to burp when asleep. And if I put her down without properly winding her, she would be awake and screaming within a few mins, presumably because of trapped wind.
I spent many a cold, dark night crying because she wouldn't burp.

I hope some of the practical advice on here helps.

In the end DD just grew out of it. I can't exactly remember when. She was prem, but I think she was maybe two months corrected when it started to calm down. So hopefully not long now for you.

Thank you everyone. Had a better night so fingers crossed

BellaBear - thanks for this thread. My 6wo DD is v similar - good early part of night then She grunts wriggles and cries every 1.5 to 2 hours and nothing but a feed and a burp seems to settle her. I use infacol religiously and it seems to improve things a bit but I'm definitely going to try the other advice here.
I've had a shocking night tonight (hence on at this time!!) So hope for better next time...

Infacol never worked for us but good old gripe water produced the most amazing burps and farts so maybe give that a try.